Standards For Use Of Technology In Genealogical Research

Recommended by the National Genealogical Society

Mindful that computers are tools, genealogists take full responsibility for their work, and therefore they-
 

  •    learn the capabilities and limits of their equipment and software, and use them only when they are the most appropriate tools for a purpose.

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  •    refuse to let computer software automatically embellish their work.

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  •    treat compiled information from on-line sources or digital data bases like that from other published sources, useful primarily as a guide to locating original records, but not as evidence for a conclusion or assertion.

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  •    accept digital images or enhancements of an original record as a satisfactory substitute for the original only when there is reasonable assurance that the image accurately reproduces the unaltered original.

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  •    cite sources for data obtained on-line or from digital media with the same care that is appropriate for sources on paper and other traditional media, and enter data into a digital database only when its source can remain associated with it.

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  •    always cite the sources for information or data posted on-line or sent to others, naming the author of a digital file as its immediate source, while crediting original sources cited within the file.

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  •     preserve the integrity of their own data bases by evaluating the reliability of downloaded data before incorporating it into their own files.

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  •    provide, whenever they alter data received in digital form, a description of the change that will accompany the altered data whenever it is shared with others.

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  •   actively oppose the proliferation of error, rumor and fraud by personally veri- fying or correcting information, or noting it as unverified, before passing it on to others.

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  •   treat people on-line as courteously and civilly as they would treat them face- to-face, not separated by networks and anonymity.

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  •   accept that technology has not changed the principles of genealogical research, only some of the procedures.

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     Copyright 1997 by National Genealogical Society. Permission is granted to copy or publish this material provided it is reproduced in its entirety, including this notice.